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the state department. e at nato headquarters in brussels on march 11th. >> distinguished guests, the secretary of state of the united states accompanied by the prime minister.

>> good morning everyone. thank you for being here today. prime minister accompanied by prime minister will deposit sweden instrument of succession of north atlantic treaty with secretary of state blinken representing the united states of america as the depository of the treaty. [applause] dopositary of the treaty. [inaudible] >> thank you. [applause]

>> good things come to those who wait. no better example. but with receipt of this of accession, let me be the very first to welcome sweden as a party to the washington treaty and the 32 the north -- and he 32nd member of the north atlantic treaty organization. [applause] prime minister, to you, my friend the foreign minister, a personal note of thanks. for your extraordinary leadership. your extraordinary vision, and resilience. this has been a little bit of a road but i think we've known from day one that we would be here today. and now we are. this is a historic moment for sweden.

it's historic for our alliance. the transatlantic relationship. our nato alliance our defensive alliance is now stronger and larger than it's ever been. but, i think if you step back and think of where we were three years ago, none of this was fore ordained and in fact none of this was foreseeable. sweden had a 200-year-old policy of nonalignment. and before putin's re-invasion of ukraine in february of 2022, if you looked at the polling less than one third of swedes supported joining nato. this was part and parcel of sweden's history. after the invaition, three quarters of the swedish people made clear their desire to join.

swedes realized something very profound. that if putin was willing to try to erase one neibor from the map, then he might well not stop there. and if he was allowed to proceed with impunity, not only would his aggression potentially continue but would-be aggressors everywhere would get the message that it was open season. and so, the swedish people stood up, stood up not only for their own country, but stood up to the common responsibility that we share to try to make sure that the very foundations of the international system that we all rely on, to have peace, to have security, to have opportunity when they were were there to defend them. sweden was there to defend them. and i think what this tells us even more profoundly is the

reaffirmation of sweden's democratic character. change driven by its people. by its citizens. there's also no clearer example than today of the strategic debacle that putin's invasion of ukraine has become for russia. we see a russia that is now weaker militarily, economically, diplomatically. it's standing in ukraine. -- its standing in ukraine has changed dramatically. whereas before 2014, the first invasion, people were open to positive relations with russia. now virtually the entire society, and not just today, generations, is turned against russia because of its aggression. and fundamentally, our alliance is now, as i said, both larger and stronger than it's ever been. and we see again and again and again and again that prevent, he's actually precipitated by his

actions, by his aggression. and there's no clearer example of that than sweden becoming a member of the -- a member of this alliance. but even once that decision was made, none of this was easy. none of this was obvious. it's taken two years, nearly two years tireless diplomacy. together with the extraordinary secretary general of nato, stultenberg, to achieve ratification by every nato member. and again, the determination of sweden's leadership, the extraordinary diplomacy itted, making sure that every question was answered, every challenge was met, every obstacle was overcome,ay. now, some doubted we'd get here but we are here. this is built on a partnership

between sweden and nato that goes back many, many years. sweden has long been an active partner with nato ally, training to exercising together working together. and fundamentally, the reason this is such a strong, powerful fit is because sweden embodied and promotes the core values that are at the heart of nato. democracy. liberty, the rule of law. and it also brings unique capabilities to this enterprise. unique capabilities in the arctic the baltic sea, and this year ofou contribute more than 2% of its g.d.p., to defense and continue to show the way for all nato members. if you go back to 1949, at the sthiefng nato treaty, president truman said this, and i quote. in taking steps to prevent aggression against our own peoples, we have no purpose of aggression against other peoples. we hope to create a shield against aggress

of aggression. a bulwark which will permit to get on with the real business of government society. the business of achieving a fuller and happier life for all of our citizens. that is fundamentally what this intervise -- enterprise is all about.is all about. it's making sure that together we are creating an environment in which our people are safe, secure, and can meet their full potential. today, we have fort fid the shield. fortified the shield against aggression. we brought more people under its protection so that together, we can focus on the real work of delivering for our people. with that, mr. prime minister, the floor is yours. [applause] >> thank you so much mr. secretary, much. today is a truly historic day.

sweden is now a member of we are indeed grateful for the overwhelming, bipartisan congressional support for sweden's accession and for the strong leadership from the.s. administration leading the way on ratification and security assurances. i would personally >> i would personally like to thank both president biden and you, secretary blinken for your invaluable y efforts and personal commitments during the process. i would also like to thank all nato allies who have supported our succession and welcome nato of 32nd member alliance. we are humbled but we are also proud. we will live up to high expectations from all nato allies. united we stand unity and solidarity will be sweden's guiding light as a nato member where we share burdens

responsibilities and risks with other allies. today is as secretary blinken said it's a victory for freedom free democrat sovereign and united choice to join nato. there is on overwhelming support in our parliament and among our people. that is a strength both for sweden and for the and as a strong democracy sweden will stand for the values in washington treaty, just a few blocks 75 years ago. freedom, democracyhe rule of law. sweden is as was mentioned now leading 200 years of neutrality and military behind. it is a major step but at the same time a very natural step. membership means that we are coming home for the alliance to

peace and coming home for the life of freedom to which many democracies already belong. also home to our neighbors' security corporation. home to the circle of countries where we for generations have belonged where we will defend freedom together with the country's closest to us both in terms of geography culture and values. the security situation in our region has not been this serious since the second world war.ssia will stay serious threat to the euro atlantic security for the foreseeable future. it was in this light t sweden applied to join the nato defense alliance to gain security but also to provide security. we have unique capabilities to contribute on land, in the air at is a fundamental part of that. ukraine is fighting bravely for

its freedom buthey are also defending european freedom. at the same time, we are strengthening our defense and doubling the defense budget right now from this year onwards sweden meets nato standard of 2% of gdp to defendortant for nato security obviously and to burden sharing and we strengthening civil defense and reintroducing civilian service in sweden. we have been prepared for this ta quite a while and i'm very pleased to take this very final step. sweden is joining nato the end of something it's the beginning of something new. i look forward to making the world safer and freer together with the united states and all other nato allies and allow me finallyw a very short summary.

[speaking in native language] [speaking in native language]

[speaking in native language] >> thank you all so much. [applause] >> thank you distinguished guests, please remain in your seats as the deleg and quietly exit to your right. thankz( you. view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more

including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers and we are just getting started building one hundred thousand miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. service along with the other television providers giving you a front-row seat to isniciep y signature. .. .. i wouldn't say obsession too

rong a word let's say he had a refined interest. by 1946 or 47, the entire security apparatus of the united states of america. his mail is open, his house was surveilled his employees his employees had been interviewed his taxes had

been gone w fine tooth comb. they were going over anything they could get and they didn't find it.